Expansion joint



Aug. 23, 1927; 1,639,764

A. C. FISCHER EXPANSION JOINT Filed" Aug. 21, 1925 h/ZZOK' Patented Aug. 23, 1927.-

PATENT "OFFICE."

ALBEBT C. FISCHER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

EXPANSIQN JOIN lppncatlon filed August 21, 1928. Serial No. 130,886.

Preformed strips of expansion joint material as they are known to those acquainted with the construction of concrete and the like roadways are frequen ly open to objection due to inconvenience in handling prior to i the installation of the same.

Owing to the necessary compressible and more or less plastic qualities that the expansion joint strip must have in order that it 1 will properly function, and since these qualities are usually derived from the use of compositions, the materials of which being for the most part lastic certain inconveniences are experienced in handling the strips,

particularly in warm weather, when, due to high temperatures, the strips become flabby and have a tendency to warp out of shape.

After the strips have been fabricated at the place of production they usually must be 0, shipped to dealers, where theyare carted to the job and distributed along the roadway so as to be hand for installing. All of this transporting ma strips several times, and each time care must be taken that the joints are not destroyedby breaking or warping, or otherwise departing from their intended preformed shape and dimensions, otherwise they cannot be properly installed.

Various ways have been devised to reinforce the strips, so to speak, so that they may be handled with the least possible inconvenience. According to the prior art one means resorted to has been the'application of saturated felt sides'to the reformed strip of compressible material w ich makes up the joint. Another means has been the application of burlap sides. Wire mesh has also been suggested for this purpose, the same be- 0 ing imbedded in the sides of the joint and sometimes internally imbedded. There are other attempts to meet these requirements as far as my invention is concerned the means specified are most closely allied with the principle of my invention than any other methodsr' r v In the accompanying drawing which I have selected for the purpose of illustrating the salient features 0 my invention Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of an expansion joint strip showing one method of reinforcing the same;

Figure 2 visa erspective view of a portion of a so-calle tongue and groove expanes it necessary to handle the butsion joint strip, illustrating the application of my invention.

Figure 3 is a similar view but showing how a staking means may be used in combination with the tongue and groove structure.-

Fi ure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing how an openin or openings maybe provided for accommov ating horizontal reinforcing bars or rods.

Referring now to the drawing in detail. 5 represents a preformed strip of expansion joint material which-may be made of any material, suitable for the purpose, pr0vid-' ing ithas the inherent quality of compressibility. The strip in most cases will be preformed, in lengths of 5 feet, in'thicknesses varying from 4 inch to 1 inch and about; inches in depth. These dimensions are, of course, simply illustrative of the general characteristics of thejoint and shouldnot be interpreted as controlling in-every instance. However, regardless of the dimensions of the strip, accordin to one form of my invention enclose the same with a plaster, which" may be applied to only one side, or it ma be applied to opposite sides 6 and 7 as wel as the crown 8 and the base 9, and while not shown as extending .across the ends it may do so, and no doubt will i'nsome cases, so that a complete envelop is provided for.

In.Figure 2the strip is preformed with a tongue 10on one side and a groove 11 on the opposite side. This isa more or less common construction for expansion joints, and I have shown the same simply to indicate how the plaster may be applied to this form of olnt.

So far as the illustration shows, only the straight sides 12 and the tongue and groove are covered with the plaster, that is to say, it does not extend across the base of'the crown nor does it extend across the ends, al-

though it may be applied to this extent without departing from the spirit of the 'invention as pointed out in the subjoining claims.

In Figure 4 the strip 5 has'side walls 15 and 16 of plaster and an opening 17 .made in the thickness of the joint to accommodate a horizontal reinforcing rod or pin, which will extend thru the joint and with its opposite ends imbedded in the concrete sections between which the joint is installed,

conditions, and which will develop a hard non-pliable coating or layer capable of stiffening the strip to such an extent that it cancement, asbestos,

not bendor sag when handled.

A material suited for this purpose may be ordinary Portland cement, providing it is applied in the form of a wash, so to speak, or a composition of cement and asbestos, or

gypsum, stucco, ordinary plaster, plaster of aris, or any combinations of these materials with or without the use of fibre or the like filling material. The plaster material may be applied by a spray or by immersion, or a brush may be used to'apply it. For the'most part they will be of a thinner consistency than such material as applied to walls is ordinarily expected to be, as it will not be necessary for me to make the layers very thick in order to develop the'necessar reinforcing qualities, and as a matter of fact it would not aid the functioning of the joint if a very thick wall of this kind of material was employed.

From this explanation it will be seen that I have eliminated the possibility of using such materials as bitumen or asphalt, or sheet material such as saturated felt, paper or paper substitutes. Such materials are not classified as plaster in the ordinary accepted meaning of the word, and consequently where the term plaster is recited in the specification and claims it should be construed to embrace only such materials as psum, stucco, ordinary plaster, plaster of aris or the like, Which will harden as a non-pliable layer.

.I claim:

1. An expansion joint comprising a preformed compressible structure enclosed in a jacket of laster which is permanently rigid after har ening.

2. Anexpansion join comprising a preformed strip of compressible material enperma- 5.'An expansion. joint comprising a preformed strip of "compressible material having a tongue on one side-and a groove on the lopposite side and plaster on'the side of said strip, said plaster being permanently rigid after hardening. I

6. A preformed expansion joint, comprisin a boardlike body having a tongue on one si e, a corresponding groove on the other side, and a flat portion arranged to one side of said tongue and groove, said joint embodying inits construction a thickness of compressible material reinforced by a thickness of plaster which is permanently rigid after hardening. 7. An expansion joint, comprising a preformed strip of compressible material having plaster applied to the side thereof. said plaster being permanently rigid after hardening and having fibrous material incorporatedtherein.

I AL ERT o. FISCHER.- 

